Velo Magazine – January 2012

What’s Inside the January 2011 issue of Velo Magazine

The 2011 season will be remembered as the year of Philippe Gilbert’s season-long dominance, a first-ever Australian Tour de France winner in Cadel Evans, and one of the greatest world championship downhill runs in recent memory. Teams collapsed and merged, Alberto Contador’s “tainted-beef defense” was finally tested, and a young man lost his life on the winding roads of Italy during the Giro d’Italia.

Velo’s 2011 Awards Issue takes a step behind the scenes of all these stories and more, honoring cycling’s most incredible men and women and the feats that set them apart.

The 33-page awards section is headed by an in-depth look at the incredible season of International Cyclist of the Year Philippe Gilbert, who won from March through September, in seven different countries, securing the UCI WorldTour ranking along the way.

Other riders honored include North American Cyclist of the Year Levi Leipheimer, international cyclocross racers of the year Zdenek Stybar and Katie Compton, and international mountain biker of the year Catherine Pendrel — all of whom were photographed wearing our special Velo Cyclist of the Year jersey.

Velo’s annual Awards Issue takes you inside the most dramatic days of racing this season, the best and worst in tech — our pick for tech innovation of the year will surprise many — and the year’s biggest disappointments.

RadioShack neopro Ben King ruminates on his unforgettable first season in the WorldTour, Kenda-5-Hour Energy’s Phil Gaimon waxes philosophic about “that guy” on the local group ride, and ace contributor Dan Wuori caps it all off with the sidesplitting Wuori awards.